“When we face a guy like Cam and a guy like Michael [Vick], you have to have 11 guys, not just the linebackers alone. But I do like our linebackers and the speed of our backers and the way that they can run and be able to defend these guys,” Big Blue defensive coordinator Perry Fewell said. “You have to have all 11 guys looking at these guys and really know where these guys are, because they can bust out at any point in time.”

Asked if he likes to use a spy with quarterbacks such as Newton, Fewell said: “If it’s necessary, yes, I’ll use a spy versus an athletic quarterback like Cam Newton or Michael Vick. There’s no doubt about it.”

A Michael Boley. A Keith Rivers perhaps.

“You get the opportunity to kind of mirror some of these quarterbacks in certain defenses,” Justin Tuck said. “That takes a lot of pressure off us up front, knowing that we can in some situations [and] take a little bit more risk, knowing that we’re gonna have guys that can run and get after these mobile quarterbacks. They feel as though, and I feel as though, they’re just as good athletes as some of the quarterbacks we play. But you just got to pick your spots. … We just gotta do a great job of doing what we do up front and not really give him any alleys, and that helps both sides out.”

Newton would love nothing better tomorrow night in prime time than to show the nation how a swaggerlicious quarterback can beat the Super Bowl champions either with his arm or his legs — or both ways — in his own backyard.

“He’s a force to be reckoned with,” Antrel Rolle said, “especially with the option that they have going on. They had over 200 yards running the option last week [against the Saints]. We definitely have to be very disciplined. Their success is based off your mistakes.

“It’s gonna take all 11 in order to be effective with what we’re trying to do, in order to stop what they have going on.”

Rookie of the Year a year ago, and already beginning to laugh in the face of any sophomore jinx.

“It’s a set of problems we’re familiar with playing in this league — a little bit of [Donovan] McNabb, a little bit of Vick,” Mathias Kiwanuka said. “He’s an accurate passer, so you have to take him as a serious threat in terms of his ability to drop back and throw the ball, but I think the thing that stands out the most is his ability to elude pass rushers in the pocket and extend plays with his feet.”

A 100.8 passer rating, 114.8 in the fourth quarter. An NFL-best 10.49-yard average per attempt. A team-leading 75 rushing yards.

“Certainly he’s powerful and he can run through an arm tackle, no doubt, and he’s physically strong enough to withstand the blows that come from rushing the football,” Tom Coughlin said. “There’s different-sized athletes. This guy is big and strong and fast.”

As big and strong as Big Ben Roethlisberger. Maybe not as fast as Vick or RGIII, but faster than most.

Newton tormented the Saints with a 40-yard option run, a 66-yard bomb to Steve Smith and even a Statue of Liberty handoff. And remember, he has a pair if formidable running backs in Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams.

“Cam plus a good running back creates a problem for defenders,” Kiwanuka said. “Now the fact that they run the little option play and all that kind of stuff, it makes us have to hone in and in a short week we got to make sure that we’re paying 100 percent of attention when we’re in the meeting rooms.”

The emergence of wide receiver Brandon LaFell as a second option opposite Smith makes Newton, who has 15 rushing touchdowns in 18 career games, that much more of a threat.

“We played him in our first preseason game last year, we opened up with them, and after that game I said he was a franchise quarterback,” Fewell said. “Just with some experience and some time, he’s going to be a really nice player. I think offensively, they’re doing some really good things to enhance his athletic ability. I think the sky is the limit for this guy.”